Roseburg review. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 1885-1920, 1887-10-14


ivion. "Why on earth do you say
'cen Mem? Do you suppose folks
weren't as good in those days as now;
besides thought the Bible was writ
ten for all time. Ny young friend
did not ask questions like the boy of
five Just to hear himself talk; he wanted
them answered and was capital list
ner, so l thought he would not mind
good dose on the subject especially as ]
knew that life was real and earnest
with him, although he had not been in
the way of having much put into it as
yet as to knowledge and experience.
So "my dear fellow" said I, "you
know great part of the Bible is mere
narrative, telling us what folks did and
how they lived and what they said to
each other, and what God came down
and said to them in those days, W e
have not to copy antideluvian life, ncr
get the patriarcllal good as it was of
its kind. Every now and then there
was word or two let fall to them con
cerning this life of ons, for instance,
"many shall run to and fro in The earth
and knowledge shall be increased.
Perhaps the old seer got kind of in
stantaneous picture vision OF our steam
engines and the crowds starting on our
excursion trains, or of our gigantic
steam presses, dealing out knowledge
for the million. Our telegraphs and
cablegrahs and telephones have got be-
yond the ''running to and flo," such
things could never have entered into
dream ever. But it is these things
that have made such changes in TIE
very same world in which those earli-
est lnha bitants lived and died. Think
how slowly the wheels of their life
moved. Young or rather old Jacob
watching sheep for seven years for his
wife, and then another seven years for
the right one. Why fourteen years
rather tells on a young woman's age
nowadays. 1t was the isolation and
stagnation of their lives that helped
the body last out so many years. 1t
is true as the poet says, "They live
longest who think the most" and ac-
cording to Josiah Strong he is not
sure that Abraham Lincoln did not
live longer than Methusalel.
Do you suppose that whisky even il
it had been discovered then, would
have had the same effect upon those
phlegnlatic old men content to sit and
sit and just exist like big old forest
oak, as it has upon US to-day, with all
our viyacity, activity and throbbing
| lifel Don't you believe it. Just occa-
sionally you come across phleg.
matte temperament nowadays, handed
down by the old stock, and you may
remark on him that he can ply whisky
for forty years, when it would kill one
of us high strung fellows in about four
And it is just this perpetual running
to and fro" of this generation that tells
The rustling round to get on and make
dollars, the bustling and the hustlins
up against many minds, in the smar
trading and eager commercial enter
prises, to say nothing of the myriat
newspapers that have to be read ant
then discussed, Why our very chris
tianity bustles US on, instead of wor
shiting on the lone mountain top
Sec our huge city congregations, il
which heart inspires heart to fervo
and enthusiasm. Now all this hal
made the good old, slow-cra wiling
phlegmatic temperament rare thing
it has developed the highly strung ner
vous organization, with which whisky
plays the devil IN double quick time
Scientific men tell us too that it i:
more particularly developed in these
temperate zones, and especially in thesC
western states of North America
And furthermore, with this develop
ment, goes hand in hand the fondncs
for whiskey and the curse it brings
: Curious fact, isn't itl-that east Of tn
Mississippi the average is one salool
to every l07 voters. Near the Rock
mountains east, the number of saloon
increases, while in these far wester
states the increase is more. In Orego
there are only So voters to each saloon
1t would seem that in this wester
mountainous region mems nerves al
, of the fine texture, that, suffering NOR
. from depressed moments, seek the e,
citement Of the glass, with it come
the correspondingly increased wear an
tear to the system with which tn
drink serves the finely organized
! This goes on at an increased rate i
e each successive generation. To prov
Y this, | give you the figures of the go,
? ernment official report. During th
L last forty years beer drinking has il
t creased ,675 per cent, wine 100 pc
cent and ardent spirits 200 per cen
and this taking the increase of popul;
e tion into account. 1t does not howeyt
1 take into account the greatly increase
number of total abstainers. Clearl